Tuesday, July 31, 2007

AUGUST IS THE ANNIVERSARY MONTH THAT "THE ZUMA DOGG SHOW" DEBUTED ON LOS ANGELES PUBLIC ACCESS CABLE TV IN 2000. I put together a new "Anniversary" embedded player loaded with "Best of" clips from the classic public access show -- plus the "Best of" Zuma Dogg Fights City Hall".

Q: What people can do to start getting involved and Garcetti gave four tips:

1. Be Positive:...People are against this, against that. But when something is good, public comment is a field of crickets. A good example was this past Wednesday at (public comment) where every comment was positive.

Is that the point #1 point Eric?: Come on down to city hall with positive comments. You may be against that skyscraper being built that is kicking you out of your life-long business or residence in violation of enough reasons to trigger a DA investigation. And we may have even admitted that we have been kicking people out of these life long businesses and residences in violation of City Charter law; and we may do thing in violation of Federal law, that destroys lives, while me and my cronies profit:

But when you spend all your time coming down to city hall to address us, try and use the time, not to speak out "against" the shady agenda items that are destroying lives;

But try and use your time -- not to address an problem you would like us to fix, but try and use your trip to speak UP about some of the GOOD things we have already done in the city. You know, the things that we say on OUR time, all the time, as we grandstand and thank each other throughout the meeting for all of our hard work and good thing that we do.

You know, try and make every public comment, more like a "presentation and proclamation" and less of an opportunity to express grievences that we can take action to improve for you and the community as your elected representatives. John F. Kennedy once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what YOU can do for your country." Well, I'd like to say as you COUNCIL President, "Ask not what WE can do for you, tell us some of the good things we have already done." And that's how you can start to become more involved.

[ZD CAMPAIGN STRATEGY: Eric, see here's the problem. The problem isn't really as bad as you are trying to make it appear to seem. We all know you don't like ZD notifying the people of your shadiness on your own City cameras and TV station, but let's not confuse that with a few moments of loud speech. (I mean how much loud-talk has there been in '07? Take a look on the city website. search "zuma dogg" for all comments and see and hear for yourself.)

So the people you are speaking to are not saying, "Yeah, that is a problem." And if there are people who feel you are talking about people like ZD, well many of those respondants would probably say the corrupt politicians deserve it anyway, and are glad someone is doing what you are trying to lead them to believe is happening at a disproportionate level.

And yes, some folks...mostly the choir you are preaching to (like COS' shady Jaycees that isn't an open Jaycees, but a mere schill to gather a database and contacts for a CM run)...WILL feel that ZD's occasional voice raising...and it hasn't been twice in six months (and even then it's just "loud", not YELLING!!!), is far worse than what the politicians are doing behind their back.

So you have to play the percentages.

Eric and people protecting the corruption...I can tell you, and your market research can confirm it...people do not have the same perception and emotions to the issue you raise. So all you are doing is sending a mixed-neurological association. Because as soon as you say that...most of the people are either saying, "Ha Ha..yeah, I love those guys when they do that...totally hilarious!" Or, "Yeah...those shady politicians deserve it!"

And the ones who are OUTRAGED at those negative public comment speakers...well they were probably on your side (voting for you in their mind) anyway...

So what you should say is...

The first thing I would do, is call your councilmembers office and tell them your issue or comment and see if they can have someone get back to you with an answer or let you know if there is anything you can do next.

Or, you can come down, straight to public comment and address us in person. And although it takes a lot of time and cooperation from many different people and departments, all too many times, before we see the results of these efforts, there have been many occasion in recent months where people have voiced an opinion over community issues, and we were able to accomodate those requests and have even created new laws and have become much more mindful of many civic issues within the City.

No city of this size and complex demographic will ever be able to please everyone all at once, but if there is something you feel strongly about, let us know, and it helps to get others in your community involved with you as well.

Or, just send Zuma Dogg and email, or call him on his cell phone and he might get pissed off and tell the whole f*cking city, for you.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Thanks so much to Zach Behrens and LAist.com for inviting Big ZD to be guest day editor for the Los Angeles culture blog. More content will be added throughout the day, but Zack must know how to aks all the right questions, because I admitted WAAAAAAY too much in the interview. (Mayor Sam readers are probably aware of some of the stuff I mention, but it may be a surprise to the wider, more mainstream LAist audience.

Plus, remember, ZD's "tribute" to Eli "The Broadfather" Broad's Grand Avenue Project in LA Weekly is still on newstands today.

Man, what was I thinking when I revealed WAY too much than I am comfortable with in today's LAist.com interview today. Here's a non-personal question and answer and I'm glad Zach from LAist aksed the question. (Sure beats, "What do I think about the mayor?")

8. Any recommendations to people who are yearning to speak up to local government?

Yes, do it! Point is, if I didn’t feel there was effectiveness toward all of the community’s efforts, I wouldn't keep showing up to the meetings, calling radio, blogging and pushing so hard.

And there is a “network” of community leaders and activists who all know each other and three-way call each other and email. They all know who they are, and we all help each other toward the same common goal of civic improvement. (To put it mildly.)

When we look back over the past year, or so; new laws have been created, old laws are being followed, first amendment issues at City Hall itself (see Brown Act) have been hammered out, a lot of people’s eyes have been opened and this new electronic era has been a big help. When I made my first appearance at City Hall in April ’06, no one had really heard of youtube (and even less had actually seen it.) Now I have people coming up to me that have only seen me on youtube. And the fact that people stop me on the street everyday, all over the city, from East LA to Venice tell me they see me or hear me means that it is working. Especially when they take time to tell me their stories.

And with AM talk radio, City TV 35, blogs and added media. They don’t make these changes all the time (and I say none of the time) because they WANT to, they make these changes because they have to out of the public pressure, not only from constituents, but from their cronies, associates and superiors.

We all know legislation, administration and meetings take up a good amount of your time, whether ZD shows up that day, or not.

And I’ve spent the past year and three months focusing on the fraud, waste and abuse at the item by item, issue by issue agenda level.

However, there is much more to being an elected official than your "yes" or "no" vote on an agenda item.

I know you recently spent two days at a retreat, allowing you the opportunity to roll up your sleeves, loosen your ties and discuss your district’s needs and goals for the next year.

I think it would be exciting if Council took the equal amount of time and spent two meetings, televised live across the city, to address the citizens of Los Angeles and use the opportunity to directly address their constituents with a "State of the District".

Use the opportunity to let people know about new services being provided to them by the City, what services are on the way and what problems you are aware of that you will be addressing.

COUNCILMEMBERS: TAKE TURNS READING INFORMATION LIKE THIS:

And I’d like to remind everyone watching, that as gas prices increase, and traffic congestion increases, look for occasions where the bus makes more sense. Maybe you drive part of the way, and jump on the bus the rest of the way. If you are going to the beach on the weekend, try taking the bus for the first time. When you factor in the price of gas, parking and the stress of driving, sometimes the bus makes more sense, even if you drive a Rolls Royce or Mercedes Benz.

Parents: School is starting again, before you know it and you may have heard the mayor will be working more closely with the new LAUSD school board and new superintendent David Brewer.

It’s going to be a long, uphill battle. The school system didn’t break overnight, and it can’t be fixed overnight. However, we can get started, right away. And we have gotten started.

The school board is going to do more to make sure the students who need the most special attention will be getting that added attention. More resources will be spent making sure teachers are best prepared to do their job through additional training and re-educating. Children who need more attention learning English will receive the attention. And information is being gathered and measures are being put in place that will allow the school district to better evaluate future results that will lead to higher teacher and system accountability.

But the school administration isn’t the only part of the system that needs fixing. Parents need to do more to better prepare their children to allow the schools to do their job of education.

Too much time is spent each day on discipline and basic skills and behavior problems that result from parental neglect.

Parents can help fix the school system without leaving home.

Simply accept and added level of responsibility and become active participants in their children’s lives. You can judge what a young kid says, and how they behave by the standards imposed on them by the parents. It’s tough to say "no" to your kids, when other parents say, "Yes", or don’t say anything at all, because the kids are left un-attended.

Too many parents think it is the schools and teachers job to instill dignity, respect and discipline into their kids. BUT IT IS NOT. That is the parents’ job. The schools job is to educate kids. Help fix LAUSD by fixing your kids, so the school can do its job. (Teach them how to read, write, add, etc.) Asking your kid, "How was school today? Did you do your homework?", is not taking responsibility for your child’s education.

I know it’s tough to be a parent to your kid, these days. The high cost of housing, taxes and gas makes it hard to make ends meet, and both parents (if there are even both parents at home) have to work long hours, and travel through long traffic-jammed commutes, for not enough pay, at the end of the day.

And at the end of that day, It’s much easier to say, "yes", than argue a long protracted battle over how late a kid can stay out, or how many hours they can use myspace, youtube, ipod, xbox, or even regular old TV. And it doesn’t help when other parents refuse to do a thing to help instill discipline, morals or standards in their kids. But you must rise to the challenge and be the leaders and role models in your kids’ lives. Parents don't rely on the City to be your kids’ babysitters after school. Rely on each other. Spend more time talking to each other about after school activities. Do more for each other. Talk about what your kids are and are not allowed to say and do. Try and convince other parents to go along with the higher standard, so all the kids that play together lift each other up, instead of drag each other down.

So that's ONE thing the community can do to fix the schools (besides reducing classroom size, paying teachers more so we can recruit new ones, after school programs, safer streets and other things that are out of your control):

Take on more responsibility to do the job you asked for when you had a kid. Be a mentor -- to your own kids. You cannot leave the job of raising your kids and teaching them responsibility and values needed to keep them in school, graduating and productive members of society we need them to be to a school system. That’s not THEIR job, it’s YOURS. Take on the challenge. It will be almost as enriching and rewarding of an experience as myspace or YouTube.

By city council taking a retreat, it allowed me to reflect on what I would have said at the retreat.

I think Councilmembers are missing out on a real opportunity to take the power of those City TV 35 cameras and use it for more than dog and pony show photo opportunities and campaign grandstanding. Councilmembers are sounding and looking like Top 40 deejays, during the grunge rock era. A little corny and no ones buying it.So from here on out, in order to try and provide you with the example of the type of leadership talk that is needed to transform our community and help bring it out of the crisis; every time ZD steps to the mic, for general public comment (and whenever possible during agenda items, he hopes to use the opportunity to try and out Tony Robbins, Tony Robbins. In other words, try and use the two minutes to run a citywide hypnotherapy session that replaces old, un-empowering beliefs that preventing people from making the positive contributions we need as a community and replace them with the new, empowering beliefs. And once the viewers have been reframed to allow their subconscious mind to congruently communicate with their conscious mind, you eliminate the mixed signal you send to yourself and others. Then add a little emotion down the neuro-superhighway and you create the passion that drives you and triggers you into taking action.

And I challenge my media cast mates, all fifteen members of City Council and Mayor Villaraigosa to join me in the challenge.

The city and state are basing some of their major plans on the fact that you are going to vote to approve more bond money out of your checking account to pay for the transportation they haven't yet built to accommodate all the high density housing they have already started. (And traffic is already bad enough.)

So if the city feels "subway to the sea" and high-speed "magic bullet trains" are part of the plan, are you willing to vote for the billions and billions it will cost, that you will have to pitch in for?

School construction: If LAUSD came to you and said, "Will you vote for more bond money to build more schools." How would you vote:

Thanks to LAist.com for featuring ZUMA DOGG as "Guest Editor" for the day. They are running several ZD related stories throughout the day.

Here's my response to:

1. Zuma's campaign promises if running for mayor.

Well, if I were running for mayor, I would continue to speak about the exact same things I have been talking about all year. Because since you only have two minutes for comment, or a few minutes on a radio call, you want to try and talk about the most important issues, affecting the most amount of people, Citywide, that needs the most amount of transformation.

Currently, I would start with LAUSD. You can read exactly what I would start with in my campaign speech, because it is actually included here. And my campaign promise regarding LAUSD (since it seems to be in the mayor’s job description these days), is to set-up community meetings throughout the district, and try to attend many myself, and have my staff, and LAUSD Superintendent, board members, principals, teachers and parents there to take feedback from everyone on how to “fix/improve the system”, and update the community on the current state of the system, what is being done, what has happened, and what parents can do to help the school from their end.

Then I would promise to take this feedback and make sure everyone from the tree trimmer to the board president had one goal, and one goal only: Your job is to help bring to the Superintendent’s attention, how he can put people to work to make the changes necessary to “fix the system” from an operational standpoint, to help improve the conditions that will allow teachers to be able to do a better job and remove barriers that prevent students from maximizing their achievement.

And something very important regarding any meaningful attempt at LAUSD school reform: I would request as mayor, that the Inspector General be as active and involved in all school board meetings and committee meetings and be an integral part of the “reform team”, because the Inspector General is the person in charge of investigating, “fraud, waste and abuse”. And if you are trying to pull LAUSD out of its current mess and fix a broken and sinking system…allowing the money to accidentally (or otherwise) fall into the category of “fraud, waste and abuse” only shoots the effort in the foot because it’s tough enough to fight for the dollars we need to get the job done. So if there is potential for billions of these dollars to be wasted (through fraud, or abuse), the Inspector General would be the first person I would like a report from each day, as mayor.

So, Zuma Dogg promises as mayor, one of my top priorities (top 2), will be to make sure as representative of the people of Los Angeles, I will make sure City Hall does everything it can to make sure every dollar given to the kids and the schools, is used with the least amount of “fraud, waste and abuse” as any human system can hope to achieve. (Least amount of preventable waste.) And I would request as much communication from the Inspector General and ask the LAUSD school board to please consider him a valuable tool to help accomplish the goal you are trying to achieve. Because if you are trying to “fix” the problem, it doesn’t help if the businesses you are awarding contracts to, are allowing the public money earmarked for school construction and improvements , where inappropriate amounts of moneyends up going to corporation managers and their cronies through front-end loaded (padded) management deals.

As a society, we will not have the workers and productive members we need to move forward until we fix our city’s education system. By fixing the school system, you help increase student achievement, raise the graduation rates and provide a larger pool of qualified and productive job candidates. This is the best way, and I think only way to effectively reduce street crime and make the communities a safer, more livable place. Less money wasted on the problems associated with the crime associated to kids we lose to the streets because systematic bureaucracy and politicians have allowed the system to stay broken for too long, and now it has failed us. And there can be no optimistic view of the future until we overhaul the school system, and take it out of a 50’s industrial era operating framework and make the necessary transformation to accommodate students and parents in today’s specialized, fragmented electronic era.

A vote for Zuma Dogg, for Mayor of Los Angeles, means you will be sending a mayor into City Hall who will make sure there is a more efficient process in the way the city plans it’s growth and plans it’s projects. As mayor, I would break down barriers between all departments and have agencies and committee members and planners be a part of the entire process from start to finish.

I’ve sat through too many city meetings where reports weren’t there, information wasn’t ready, the meeting had to be canceled, or the project had to be sent back entirely: Not because each individual wasn’t trying to do their best job. But because each department was working “independently” of each other, instead of working “interdependently” at all stages of planning and implementation.

The challenge we face as a city requires the most focused, efficient effort we can strive to achieve. I can promise you, as mayor, Zuma Dogg will be able to walk in the door, the first day, and the first thing I will have to do, and will be the easiest part of my job, as mayor, is to cut back the waste and inefficiency that needlessly and foolishly squanders billions of dollars of public money, that could be going to provide services Citywide that would improve the quality of all of our lives.

And the next issue I would address is the City of Los Angeles’ Housing policy. That, along with LAUSD, have been the two issues that I have spent the most time addressing publicly in media this past year. As mayor, I promise to make sure the City enforces its own Charter regarding affordable housing, vacancy rates and tenant’s rights. Because the City needs to do a lot of redevelopment and make a lot of improvements, Citywide to stay competitive regionally, nationally and globally. And I want the people to know that I will take measures to ensure that the City treats all these displaced residents with the dignity and compassion, that also happens to be required by law. Many projects are approved in violation of zoning and environmental laws, and done without proper consideration or input from the local residents affected by these project approvals. Again, the city has to balance the job of redeveloping the city so it can continue to be the international attraction that helps us thrive – and transition into a more livable city as the population increases by millions over the next decade.

There are some pretty humongous challenges in any political system. Different sides pulling in different direction with different ideas on how to steer the city. But one thing I’m sure everyone living in the city can agree on…There is so much waste and inefficiency that can be addressed, right off the bat…that would sure make the rest of the job easier.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Tony Robbins and "Ries & Trout" are the three most influential consultants (the team of "Ries & Trout" counting as one) in the legislative mind of Big ZD.

Al Ries and Jack Trout were the first authors/consultants to jump off the bookshelf, when I was just getting started in radio, and they have done more to shape my strategic thinking than anything else. They are international legends in the radio industry, and industry in general -- consulting the "who's who" of Fortune 500 companies and their brands including Proctor & Gamble and just about every top of mind brand that you can think of (or their competitor).

Their other books include, "Positioning: The Battle for the Mind", "Bottom Up Marketing", "Focus", "22 Immutable Laws of Marketing", Origin of Brands among other marketing staples.

Again, if you are reading this, ZD feels you will have a major strategy and creativity breakthrough after reading this material based on their concepts.And not to name drop, but yes...ZD has spent numerous hours over the years interview Mr. Ries and Mr. Trout, on-air and in industry trade publications, and you can rest assured, both authors are very pleased with this representation of their material, and what is about to be presented actually sent a HUGE wave throughout the radio and record industry to the point where it is now a given that these strategies are being implemented. Again, as you read this, I'm sure you will be able to apply it to your career, as well.

THE "22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING" (Based on the book of the same name):by Al Ries & Jack Trout

1. THE LAW OF LEADERSHIP: It is better to be first than it is to be better.

2. THE LAW OF CATEGORY: If you cannot be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.

3. THE LAW OF THE MIND: It's better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.

4. THE LAW OF PERCEPTION: Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions.

5. THE LAW OF FOCUS: The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind.

6. THE LAW OF EXCLUSIVITEY: Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect's mind.

7. THE LAW OF THE LADDER: The stratefy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder.

8. THE LAW OF DUALITY: In the long run, every market becomes a two horse race.

9. THE LAW OF THE OPPOSITE: If you're shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader.

10. THE LAW OF DIVISION: Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories.

11. THE LAW OF PERSPECTIVE: Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time.

12. THE LAW OF LINE EXTENTION: There's an irresistible pressure to extend the equity of the brand.

13. THE LAW OF SCARIFICE: You have to give up something in order to get something.

14. THE LAW OF ATTRIBUTES: For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute.

15. THE LAW OF CANDOR: When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive. [This is an effective one, but council misuses it.]

16. THE LAW OF SINGULARITY: In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results.

17. THE LAW OF UNPREDICTABILITY: Unless you write your comeptitors' plans, you cannot predict the future. [See Deming on how to adapt.]

18. THE LAW OF SUCCESS: Success often leads to arrogance to failure.

19. THE LAW OF FAILURE: Failure is to be expected and accepted.

20. THE LAW OF HYPE: The situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press.

21. THE LAW OF ACCELERATION: Succesful programs are not built on fads, they are built on trends!

22. THE LAW OF RESOURCES: Without adequate funding and idea won't get off the ground.

ARE THESE GUYS GREAT, OR WHAT!!! And they are so bitter and cantakerous, just like ZD from being so aware of all the mistakes and we just can't believe these big corporations keep making them, and to me, these guys are a comedy duo!!!

Here are notes from Al Ries' "22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" seminar in NYC at the Doral Hotel (10/26/93):

America's largest almost always means America's first. (Advil was first in ibuprophen market.)

If you can't be first in your catagory, set up a new catagory. Ameliah Weheart was the 3rd person to fly around the world, but was the 1st female to do so. (Lindburgh was the 1st; can anyone remember the second? Probably not, and that's the point)

K-MART was only in markets with populations over 50,000. So what was Wal-Mart's strategy? Open stores in markets with under 50,000. [Was that an effective strategy? Would most people have thought to be the first one to go for the smaller market, or would most people have tried to go after K-MART's larger 50,000+ population base?]

The only thing that matters about your product is what your customers think about your product. Honda vs. Toyota: In Japan, Toyota beats Honda because in Japan if you say "Honda" people think motorcycles. [How do you think Harley-Davidson automobiles would do?]

NEW COKE: Out of a survey of 200,000 people, NEW COKE was chosen "best tasting" compared to Classic Coke and Pepsi. What happened? [People don't make decisions based on logic, they make decisions based on emotions and marketing shapes that.]

Owning a word in the prospect's mind is the number one most important thing!!! You will benefit from the "halo effect". (You will get credit for all the product's catagory benefits.)

THE LAW OF SEVEN: In any given product catagory, people seem to be able to hold seven positions in their mind. Seven toothpastes add up to 90% of the market.

MATCH THE PRODUCT TO THE ADVERTISING: The marketing strategists told Prego Sauce to, "add starch, we're going with the word 'thick'." New Jersey bank was told to, "add more tellers, you're going to be known as the 'fastest bank'."

Things don't converge, they diverge. [See "Origin of Brands" link on Ries site or call ZD.]

Line extention suffers from the hockey stick effect: Short term up, then long term down.

BENEFITS OF BEING A SPECIALIST:

1) Can focus on one product, one benefit, one message.2) Can become the expert and the best. (halo effect, too.)3. Can become the "generic term". [Xerox it and hand me a Kleenex and don't foget to get some Ziplock bags.]

Specialists: Banana Republic, Victoria's SecretGeneralists: Macy's

Toys R Us formula:

1) Narrow the focus.2) Buy in depth.3) Buy cheap.4) Dominate the catagory.5) Own the positon.

BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO and STAPLES copied this formula and strategy.

You can't have both sides of the teeter-totter: You can't own the high quality AND low price position in the prospect's mind. They will give you one or the other. (Hello ELEGANT DENSITY!)

MARKET RESEARCH CANNOT BE USED TO PREDICT NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO CREATE A NEW CATAGORY TO BECOME FIRST (See also: Deming): Market research said there was no demand for "Thera-flu". [When AT&T did market research as to how to better improve telephone service, no one said, "I want to be able to send pages of letters over the phone. However, someone predicted the demand for a fax machine.]

HERE'S AN ARTICLE THAT APPEARED IN A BILLBOARD RADIO TRADE BASED ON THE SEMINAR:

Marketing Strategy: In the marketplace, the only thing that matters about your product is what people think about your product. Ultimately, the identity your customers attach to your product will determine your level of success. For any product to become a success, it must create a unique position and become a specialist. Focus on one narrow message and one benefit. Become the expert and dominate the catagory. Stay narrow in focus and broad in appeal.

Toys R Us and Blockbuster Video used this strategy to "own the position" as did Staples and a host of niche outlets that were first in the market and first in the consumer's minds.

When creating an identity, remember, people don't react to intellect, they react to emotions. McDonalds and Hallmark know this, so do Hollywood movie makers and radio/tv talk show hosts. Entertainers are among the highest paid and highest valued members of society. (However shallow, or not.) Entertainers are really good sales people. They do what any good salesperson/politician must do -- make the prospective client feel good about their product. (And again, you do this through emotion, not logic.)

Think about the reason people turn on the radio anyway. [This article was created for radio industry.] Chances are they are stuck in traffic or stuck at work. Either way, users want to change the way they are feeling (mood). That is what advertisers, salespeople and the highest paid entertainers do, and that is what all marketers/politicians/whatever occupation must do -- create a unique, instantly recognizable identity that affects the listener (voter) at an emotional level and makes them feel good.

In today's croweded marketplace it is becoming much tougher to define and maintiain your position. The key to remember is to fit the product to the position (strategy). In other words, develop a strategy and work backward to make the product/issue/politican fit the campaign.

You must articulate a compelling, believable message and deliver it consistently. Nobody taps you on the shoulder and tells you when it's time to adjust (innovate). You must take it upon yourself to create new demands. You do this by educating your audience about your product and services.

Remember, the more you specialize (narrow the focus) the bigger you become. This is a tough concept for a lot of people to believe in. [Back then it was tougher, now it seems obvious...I HOPE!] You have to jump in with a leap of faith and realize time and time again this immutable concept proves to be true.

MORE RIES AND TROUT TO COME ON THIS BLOG. Check out their websites. (Al's has more content, Jack's is more of a corporate site.) UP NEXT: ZD SPEAKS WITH RIES & TROUT ABOUT (Sun Tzu-based) "Marketing Warfare".

And if you need to discuss any of this, to help apply it to your specific product market or campaign email zumadogg@gmail.com or call (310) 928-7544.

For the past year and three months I have been attacking fraud, waste and abuse one agenda item at a time and have been running a "guerilla warfare" style media campaign to get a wedge in.

And now that a lot of people (and I mean especially ZD's opposition) have noted that I have a public platform, I am going to surprise some folks, by taking the opportunity to present some material that I feel can be much more effective toward the goal of reducing fraud, waste and abuse and no matter what your political affiliation, position in the city, media or community -- if you just sit back, relax and read through this material, expect yourself to become much more creative, inspired and effective throughout your day, and many of innovative solutions will start to come into mind. And that's the best way to reduce f,w & a in the City of Los Angeles. I'm gonna fight it from the inside, by triggering higher levels of awareness, innovation, creativity, compassion, leadership and actions that all starts in the mind with these words.]

As you read this material, I'm sure most of you will be able to apply it to your own personal and professional situations you encounter throughout the day, as well. The material is designed to unleash your creative, innovative spirit at the management level.

This somewhat technical, yet effective, article all ties together at the end, but you have to read it in its entirety, even if not all at once. (Don't scan down and skip chunks of paragraphs.] I can assure each and every reader, by the time you are done reading this, you will be in such a creative free-flow state, that all types of answers, ideas and solutions will start rushing through your mind and you will be writing and typing up all your ideas and creative solutions and will be contacting people immediately over all these breakthrough solutions that will benefit the enitre city.

So that's what this is here for: Like the excercise machine at the gym. Hope you don't have to sleep anytime soon. A mind is a wonderful thing to race!

INNOVATIVE QUOTES:"No one can possibly achieve any real and lasting success or get rich in business by being a conformist." - J. Paul Getty (They named a big museum after him!)

"We did no market research, we had no sales forecasts, no return-on-investment calculations. I very simply built my dream car and figured that there would be other people who share my dream." - Dr. Porsche (They named a fancy car after him!)

"Innovators are the risk takers and problem solvers who have introduced the improvements that allow us to progress// Innovators welcome change rather than try to resist it. They learn to make change work for them rather than against them. Use innovation to improve the quality of your life, no matter what you want to do in the future." - Dr. Denis Waitley

DEMING SEMINAR NOTES:There is nothing worse than bad competition. Consumers attribute bad characteristics to all competitors of the industry. Also, bad habits are picked up by competitors that are not in the best interest of the industry, and everybody loses (customer and business).

The quality of your product and service (constituent/customer satisfaction) can be predicted by how happy and satisfied your employees/staff are.

Customers/Constituents judge quality/constituent satisfaction by their standards, not yours.

Have departments/staff work together at all stages of research, design, production and sales. Everyone must work in a cooperative, not competitive effort. (How many times have projects had to have been sent back because one party wasn't talking with the other during the process?)

Q: What is the biggest producer of waste in American industry?A: The present style of American management. Although these loses cannot be measured or evaluated, these are the losses that must be managed.

A change in direction is not a sign of a "wrong decision". A pilot makes frequent changes in course during flight based on traffic (competition) and weather (market conditions). A change in conditions requires a change in course.

Quality starts in the boardroom/chambers, for these are the councilmembers/media/leaders who possess the persuasive power to create change. It must start at the top.

Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement. Just as we reinvest in other resources, we must reinvest in a company's most important asset -- its people!

THE ART OF COMMUNICATION: How to inspire innovation, creativity, quality, productivity, answers and solutions from everywhere within the organization.

(Here's the technical part that you must read to generate the benefit):

It works just like a video camera, recording everything you experience through our senses onto tape (your subconscious).

Although you may not be able to consciously remember every bit of information recorded by your memory, your subconscious does. and makes constant reference to it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, behind your conscious' back/

Even while you sleep, the dreams you have at night are merely your subconscious mind in action, "out to play" while your conscious mind rests "off duty".

It is the subconscious mind that is actually responsible for our feelings behaviors and actions and your subconscious controls the thoughts and decisions that shape your life.

If your subconscious could flow freely through you, all the time, without distraction, your mind and body would be in a constant state of congruence and your actions would always support your emotional needs and desires.

Your conscious mind is the gatekeeper of your mind, and attempts to screen what goes in and out as a shortcut to help speed up your thinking and decision making process.

You see, you couldn’t possibly pay attention to every detail of information you have every taken in, so your conscious mind uses its best judgment and decides what you should focus your thoughts and attention on at any given moment.

As a result, your conscious mind “filters” your experience of he world (what you sense) and can leave out vital information or distort your perception of reality. Your conscious mind is only there to protect you and always has your emotional best interest in mind.

But since it filters and distorts information, sometimes it is in conflict with your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is actually the bottom line, final decision maker and is always your highest level of awareness.

The key to accessing your higher levels of awareness, allowing us to function at out peak, is to have the conscious in congruence with the subconscious.

This state of congruence is achieved by replacing "negative", "uninspiring" thoughts, beliefs and behaviors – with new, empowering thoughts, beliefs and behaviors that triggers your higher level of creative and innovative state.

This is a simple process your mind can go through, just like turning on a light switch to the “on” position, allowing new inspiring thoughts and ideas, that support your actions, to stay “on” and flow freely.

And it is easy to focus your mind to allow your conscious and subconscious mind to work together in congruence.

Your subconscious takes everything literally and does not distinguish between what is imagined and what is real.

So your conscious mind is always protecting your subconscious mind from being influences in any way that may cause you emotional or physical harm.

For example, without your conscious mind screening your sensory input, if someone told you to “go take a long walk off of a short pier”, you would actually walk to the nearest pier and continue walking.

So it is important to be aware that as you being to focus your thought patterns to support your empowering beliefs and actions and as you being to practice more effective communication methods to be featured in upcoming articles, you begin to start paying attention to the words you use when communicating with yourself and others. What television are you watching, what music are you listening to, what internet sites are you surfing. Do they help contribute to your inspired goals? (If not, how can you be comfortable wasting the time like that, anymore?)

The process of aligning your conscious and subconscious mind through focus and congruent self-communication is called “hypnotherapy” or “trance”.

You go into trance all the time, throughout the day.

For example, when you are driving down the street; your body is steering and you are breaking, steering, reading signs, reacting…but you aren’t consciously thinking about each action. (How about when you fly right past the exit, or make the same right turn you are used to, the one time you mean to turn left.) You daydream, talk on the phone, listen to the radio, look at buildings and billboards with your conscious mind, while your subconscious mind is in control of the driving process at a “subliminal” level.

Most of the time you watch TV, you are in a state of trance. Advertisers like Dominos and so many others certainly know this. Have you ever noticed how hungry you and Homer Simpson get when that Burger King commercial comes on the screen?

So advertisers (billboards, internet, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, flyers, etc.) certainly know how to control your thoughts, actions and behaviors and you allow them to constantly manipulate your feelings, actions and behaviors at the subconscious level.

So take control of your mind and use this process to your advantage by making a commercial in your mind of inspiring, motivating thoughts, ideas and feelings that will trigger you to take action to immediately improve the situation and your passion will noticed by all who you encounter, throughout the day.

Unfortunately, we encounter so much negative programming from the media and so much negative, doubt-talk (many times from the people closest to us), maybe you know someone who’s mind has started to run those incongruent, limiting belief patterns that causes dysfunctional behavior?

It’s all the negative conditioning (focus) from all these negative messages and communications from the media and people we encounter that can allow you to be drawn off-sides or forget your initial mission (creative thoughts, desires, goals, dreams and inspiration).

So if you want to take on the challenge of leadership, innovation, creativity and action it takes to create transformation (the transformation it takes to activate the community and increase student achievement at LAUSD and across all neighborhoods in the city) you must become aware of the messages you are allowing yourself to focus on, and become more aware of the language patterns you are using to communicate and motivate yourself and others. (ESPECIALLY WITH KIDS!!!)

Are you surrounding yourself with the kind of people, radio, books, internet, music and TV that helps put you in the most creative, innovative and inspired state of mind?

Or are you going down the path of a video game playing, “Wheel of Fortune” watching, ESPN expert-level, media-conditioned, hypnotized, tranced-out denial-bunny?

I wish elementary school readers would read this story because the first thing society starts to do in the parental and educational process is start to strip away uniqueness and creativity (conformity helps keep things simple) and impose all sorts of limiting beliefs and fears to help keep people in check.

Maybe I should make a YouTube hip-hop song to tell students that your mind is capable of much more than some people give you credit for.

I will continue to create specifically worded material that I will post on this blog so we can all check in throughout the day, or week, to help re-focus our thoughts and minds in an innovative, creative and inspired direction so we can be more focused and motivated and can hopefully pass it along to staff and everyone else around us.

Nothing will be pertaining to any specific area, person or issue. The purpose of this type of educational material based on clinical hypnotherapy (Milton Erickson) is not to try and tell you what you should be doing, or what agendas you should be pushing, or what areas you need to improve:

And it’s not to unleash a new wave of Zuma Dogg-style, singing and dancing political media activists. It’s to allow you to be more effective in your position in this city and if you are reading this, I don’t care what your political affiliation; what side of the land development issue you are on; if you are reading this, then ZD feels you are an important asset to the community who can actually make a difference, create change and help steer the community and city toward making some of the transformations that can benefit society as a whole. (Even if you are shady, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind running your district offices more efficiently; I’m sure even the most corrupt politicians would still like to have safe, vibrant neighborhoods. Even higher property taxes to profit off of!)

For a while, when I first started to surround myself with the material of Deming, Robbins, Dyer, Chopra, Bandler, Erickson, Peck, Williamson, Ries, Trout and other; I immediately wanted to become one of these authors. And I did get to pursue that goal, having articles published in various international trades and as once legendary media and research consultant. And these authors and speakers have spawned millions of other “wannabes” across the world.

But the message and material isn’t intended to make you a better author/seminar speaker/gadfly wannabe:

It’s to help you be the “guru” of your own world and life! Everyone reading this is in an important position on the job or in the community. So you already know what to do and are doing it. The material synthesized in this presentation from many of the authors mentioned above is the method you use to help focus and tune your most valuable tool to become even more of a leader: The thoughts and beliefs that program your mind and controls your actions and behaviors that move you closer and closer toward your goals as your mind allows you to unleash higher and higher levels of awareness that causes the type of enlightenment that drives innovation, creativity and leadership.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Tony Robbins LIVE – Master Hypnotherapy Practitioner, in Action, Spreading Good and Creating Value While Up-selling You On His Next Seminar At The Same Time, And There’s Nothing Wrong With That in A Capitalist Society

With the Tony Robbins LIVE in Long Beach full page ad on page 29 of this week’s LA Weekly, and Zuma Dogg’s full page (plus) article on the page 30 flipside, I consider it nothing less than a quantum event, and don’t try and talk me out of it.

See, first there was Deming. Then, one night, while watching the Robbins infomercial back in the 90’s, I noticed some “Deming-speak” in his pitch, so I picked up the phone the next day and called Robbins Research International, in San Diego, the next day to inquire into any Deming connection.

Sure enough, as if they would have denied a chance to create rapport with a potential client on the hook, I mean phone, they did indeed satisfy ZD that Robbins was reflecting a Deming-style message in his own. And they sent me off a cassette (medium of the time) from an actual seminar. I loved it, and was at the four-day event in Irvine a couple weeks later.

And to make a long story short, at one of the events, when I was resisting it the most, the shady huckster ran an NAC pattern on me (Robbins’ umbrella title “Neuro-Associative-Conditioning” similar to NLP, based on Ericksonian Hypnotherapy) – broke my limiting pattern – and unleashed the singing, dancing, emotion-driven performer who ended up using it for TV 35 cameras instead of Comedy Central cameras. Even better!

So when I saw his bus board in Venice announcing his August Long Beach appearance (four-day weekend event), I called to see if I could pump Tony for a free ticket. Then the next day, BAM, I’m calling back to say check the other side the page of your full page LA Weekly ad. (So I’m calling that a quantum event. And don’t try and talk me out of it.)

Anyway, I just did a Google search for some “Tony Robbins” videos, and I found a really fantastic example of him doing some SERIOUS “practitioning” (known as “spin” to you politicians and paid mercenaries) for Al Gore and an audience of some corporate big shots for some Google conference, or something.

First of all, it’s great to have recent, great quality video of Tony on “Google Video” and “YouTube” and it reminded me how entertaining it is to observe Tony working two magic angles at the same time:

Whenever Tony steps on the stage, he is delivering the product he promises and is providing you with a priceless service that I know of no one else who can deliver – and providing you much more value than expected (most fans would agree); and he is putting you in a “peak state” (most desirable frame of mind) to feel like pulling out your credit card and putting down a deposit on his next seminar, the same way Disneyland makes you feel like buying a bunch of their products while you are in the park.

And because Robbins deals in “emotions”, “states of mind”, “knowledge” and “concepts” -- many of which he admittedly synthesized from many, many other top experts (just like ZD is proud to admit to) however, in both our cases, it’s all in the delivery.

And I feel Robbins, if nothing else, is the single most entertaining and compelling stage performer anywhere. And he’s removing your limiting beliefs and conditioning your subconscious for success and empowering you and creating the perfect conditions and perfectly crafted “improv” speeches, where he is actually running hypnotherapy sessions on the crowd, covering every and any possible limiting belief or negative association that may be preventing you from achieving your maximum potential, until he eventually covers hits your home, interrupts the old, un-empowering pattern/belief and replaces it with the “glass half full” pattern in your mind.

See, luckily for us, Tony is able to achieve all his entrepreneurial goals and fulfill whatever his needs are, by selling “good”. In a global capitalist economy, where corporations place a high value on the knowledge and results that Tony seems to be delivering, at least perceptually to people (cause he hasn’t sold one ticket that wasn’t through positive word of mouth, and at HIS prices, that ain’t easy when you don’t walk out of the room with a shopping bag or tangible item.

So while he is sending you out of the room in whatever peak range of emotion allows you to feel it is worth the price of admission and an entire weekend’s worth of time, he is also removing the same limiting beliefs and creating the good feelings to put you in the proper “frame of mind” to make you wanna BEG his salespeople to LET you sign up for his next seminar.

And in this case, Tony is appearing for one of his short corporate keynote speeches (and although anyone paying the expensive price tag for his 20-30 minute appearance will tell you the cost was a meaningless joke compared to the experience) – to Tony, it’s just an opportunity for him to get in front of a bunch of “all the right people” to try and up-sell them to his next seminar.

So as long as you can afford the ticket, and aren’t taking out a mortgage on your house, or cleaning out your kids college fund to attend his Mastery University Annual Seminar, clear the calendar, and allow yourself to be turned hypnotized into loving Tony Robbins and when you go back to the real world on Monday, you’ll notice all types of improvements in your life that you weren’t even aware you were being conditioned for.

For example, you may have showed up to see Tony Robbins to help you come up with a financial strategy for your business, and you end up losing fifty pounds in four months while he was addressing that issue and you weren’t even noticing.

Or you show up at the event with your kid because of discipline problems and you end up losing the desire to smoke, or you start having better feelings for you in-laws.

I know many of the people reading this are so f-ing suspicious and skeptical of Tony Robbins and THEY DON’T NEED HIM!!! AND HE’S NOT SO SMART!!! AND I’M WAY MORE POWERFUL THAN HE IS…I WORK FOR “SO AND SO!!!”

SO WHAT??? You don’t say that to yourself before you walk into Staples Center to see the Lakers, or you don’t begrudge Springsteen cause everyone loves him and he’s making so much money, or whatever it is you do to make yourself feel good.

And in Tony’s case, even the most hardcore disbelievers who are dragged into the room by parents, or bosses who FORCE their employees to attend the four-day event, OR ELSE usually walk away experiencing some kind of life-changing breakthrough that massively improves the quality of their life.

Now in some cases, Tony’s events are a luxury you cannot afford and just like Grateful Deadheads who can get too caught up in the Robbins culture and it consumes their lifestyle. But to most people reading this, the only reason you would never go see Tony Robbins isn’t a financial barrier…it’s the exact f*cking barrier you need to see him for that is preventing you from giving in and enjoying the event like the best Bruce Springsteen concert or Broadway play ever, that just may reframe your subconscious mind to allow you to communicate with your self and others in a way that enhances all areas of your life (physical, financial, spiritually, emotionally) and causes you to feel the type of pride and joy in everything you do that effortlessly allows you to look back a month or two later and notice measurable results, be it in pounds, dollars or esteem. And you can’t put a price on that. I hope you start the seminar by making the decision to allow yourself to attend the seminar and enjoy Tony at face value, without worrying about what he is getting out of it. There’s a reason people are flying in from all over the country and all over the world for this event. And now, you can finally find out for yourself.

This YouTube video shows how he is selling you for the next seminar, while conditioning the room for “higher levels of achievement”. I don’t expect you to see it all the first time through…call me or email if you want me to try and explain the subtext to you). Pay special attention to the end when he “runs out of time”. And everytime a graphic comes up, he’s conditioning you for a “purchase” frame of mind. The whole thing is to put you in a purchasing frame of mind. So what…he’s a one man campaign machine, and to the mayor sam crowd…I have been begging you to check him out at this level.

THAT’S IT…FINAL NOTICE…FROM HERE ON IN YOU HAVE TO PAY ME $500 an hour to point it out to you and explain it to you.

Monday, July 16, 2007

You know that although ZD is no fan of your policy and agenda, I feel empathy for you regarding all the media attention being focused on you.

Perhaps the blogs and talk show hosts sparked some bad PR that blew up to "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" status, and the boos at that sports game, and whatnot.

Intense media spotlight is a tough thing to take, no matter who you are, because people weren't mean to live under this level of media scrutinty, where you have to answer to every joe schmoe with a camcorder in your face at a press conference.

BUT DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER...The reason all of this bad PR is coming out is not because of the current medium (blogs, radio, newspapers)...it's because there are former supporters of yours, who are now disgruntled and disenfranchised by all this bad PR. They feel they just lost their investment. People have a lot tied into Antonio emotionally, as well as financially. They knew him back then, watched him rise...the original "People's Champ".

So now, perhaps some of those people are selling you out and making sure this stuff gets out there, whatever the medium. If we were still living in the native days, your scorned supporters would be sending "smoke signals". If you pissed off Fred and Barney, they would be passing out stone tablets.

Perhaps it will help you feel better to know that there really was no way to prevent this from getting out. People can hack this blog, or wish John and Ken would just shut up...but when your opponents decide it's time for the info to get out into the mind of the public...it's gonna get out there, whether it's a message in a bottle or pony express...and in this electronic era, that's a genie you can no longer count on keeping in the bottle.

THE BEST THING TO DO...IS START RUNNING EVERY SINGLE F*CKING STATEMENT AND APPEARANCE THROUGH THE "ART OF WAR"/"MARKETING WARFARE" FILTER, LIKE ZD DOES EVERY DAY...and when Anthony Robbins is in town in August, maybe you can have a private consultation with him sometime before, or after. Just aks Bill Clinton...I SWEAR ZD knew the day Clinton worked with Robbins, cause I saw it in his next speech.

[Just ask Bill about "anchoring", the hand gestures, and how to watch the verbage.]www.tonyrobbins.com

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

LAUSD BOARD MEETING: Where's the Inspector General when you need him? He should be attending these LAUSD board meetings run by Empress Monica Garcia. I mean, she just steamrolled through the eight point ANNUAL "Order of Business" through without going through committee...let alone without public input. AND WHAT'S THIS FILLING OUT A CARD ONE DAY IN ADVANCE BULLSH*T. That BROWN ACT VIOLATION comes to an end the first time ZD shows up and fills out a card and hand it in on the spot. TRY AND STOP ME ON KLCS-TV MONICA! I DID NOT LIKE THE WAY YOU RAN THAT MEETING TODAY, MONICA. AND I DO NOT LIKE THAT YOU DIDN'T RUN THE AGENDA THROUGH COMMITTEE. AND YOU SAY THE NEW VILLARAIGOSA-BACKED SCHOOL BOARD WANTS MORE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND INPUT INTO THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS?

Monica, sweetie...well, actually, you didn't look to sweet up there at all; you looked like a big autocratic "arrogance of power" steamroller up there...Where was the parental input/public testimony when you created your eight point order of business that includes eight pretty big money-spending actions. And where was the parental input at today's meeting? By requiring someone to fill out a card 24 hours in advance...well it looks like you're trying to SCREEN OUT/PREVENT parental input, not general more of it.

BUT ZUMA DOGG HAS READ AB 1381 AND KNOWS YOUR INTENT. AND LET ME TELL YOU PUEBLOS...IT DOESN'T DO MUCH FOR KIDS, PARENTS OR ANYONE ELSE EXCEPT THE CORPORATIONS WHO PROFIT OFF THE TAKEOVER.

CITIZENS ALERT...CITIZENS ALERT...CITIZENS ALERT...

WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...

THIS IS NOT A TEST...I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A TEST...

THE ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA BACKED LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD HAS TAKEN OVER THE SYSTEM...

THEY HAVE SHUT OUT ALL PARENTAL INPUT...THEY HAVE DECIDED THE AGENDA WITHOUT RUNNING THESE MASSIVE PLANS THROUGH COMMITTEE...NO PUBLIC INPUT...JUST ASK THEM...

IT'S ALL ABOUT A BUNCH OF POLITICIANS, WHO HIRED CASINO OPERATORS FROM VEGAS, TO FLICK THE MONEY SWITCH TO "CHARTER"...AND THE CORPORATIONS AND POLITICIANS SENT TO DO THIER DIRTY WORK WILL SKIM ENOUGH OFF THE TOP TO THWART ANY REAL HOPE OF "FIXING" ANYTHING...And what do they care...they make money off prison construction, too.

IF YOU ARE AN LAUSD PARENT...OR KNOW AN LAUSD PARENT...HAVE THEM SEND ME AN EMAIL IMMEDIATELY...THIS IS A NATIONAL CRISIS WE ARE ABOUT TO ENTER...THESE POLITICANS ARE ABOUT TO FLICK THE SWITCH, AND DRAIN THE COFFERS...THEY WILL POUR MORE AND MORE MONEY INTO A SYSTEM THEY KEEP BROKEN, ON PURPOSE...MEDIA...CONTACT ZD FOR THE BIG PICTURE...LOU DOBBS...BILL O'RIELLY HOLLA AT YA BOY...

CLINTON AND BUSH ARE BOTH GOING AFTER THE SCHOOL MONEY, AND ARE HOPING AS MANY PEOPLE FROM MEXICO HURRY THE HELL OVER HERE TO BOOST UP THE POPULATION NUMBERS, SO MORE MONEY GOES INTO THESE AREAS. (See also: non-profits/LA BEST; Health Care Privatization attempt, Parks & Rec Privatization attempt, School Privatization attempt/Belmont, Semilla.)

ZUMA DOGG PREDICTS THE MONEY IS GONNA DISAPPEAR LIKE A DAVID COPPERFIELD ILLUSION...AND IT'S GONNA BE ONE MORE SCHOOL BOND AFTER THE OTHER FOR THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS TO PAY FOR ALL THEIR "FRONT-END LOADING" OF THESE PROGRAMS.Just aks ZD's mentor and Dogg Father...Don Mullinax, former Inspector General, who has already warned us about this:

There's not enough money to finish these construction projects. Hey Antonio...What about Phase Four? It isn't paid for yet? So they will already be asking more money for that at the polls. BUT ZD JUST DID A FOCUS GROUP AND SAYS VOTERS ARE FED UP WITH YOUR "WASTE NOW" ASK FOR MORE LATER, FRONT-END LOADING, CONSTRUCTION BUDGET PONZIE SCHEMES. MARK "MR. K" GERMAIN...Didn't I do nothing but sit on hold for hours on end, this time last year warning about this $20 billion plus, school construction takeover. It's more hideous and nefarious than I thought. MAN ARE PEOPLE SUCKERS AND EVERYONE WHO DOESN'T SHOW UP TO THE NEXT LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD MEETING WILL GET EXACLTY WHAT THEY DESERVE! NOTHING!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Maaaaaaaan, the haters are gonna have grist for the mill for about the next year or so.

After seven years of Dave protecting his identity as Zuma Dogg, to the point of wearing the hat and glasses in Ralph's at 3am, or at Ventura Beach, so as to prevent all photos, like KISS, it finally became MY OWN, personal Darth Vader helmet I accuse others of being trapped inside, and ZD was finally comfortable enough to want to enter society as an insider, not an outsider, and took off the hat and glasses before Council and everyone watching on TV 35. (And it couldn't have happened on a worse day, with an extra large audience because of the annual Council elections.

Many of you know, the ZD was unleashed and in full-effect mode like HULK at his greenest and meanest. And it was quite a productive period.

But the reason was first over the Venice Beach ban of Zuma Dogg Tshirts (politically protected message), and incense and other protected items. [THIS IS NOT ABOUT TAXES...THAT IS ADDRESSED, TOO.]

So they took away my income and my life tanked. THEN, they arrested me, in a move to go for a one-year stay away. (So that's only gonna unleash the ZD. It made me feel like, we'll as long as I am going out, it may as well be in a "blaze of glory".)

And, of course, as a "chip on his shoulder", "poor-man's complex", "under dogg", I NEVER actually felt like the "puffed up"/"actual factor" I kept trying to "defend" myself into proving to the haters. (Again, like "stay away" attempt only drove me harder, all the "minimizing" attempts in these comment sections, only made me try and convince you otherwise. (But I guess you knew, waaaaaaay before I did, otherwise you wouldn't have been here.)

I know people have been saying that for a while, but believe it, or not...it didn't REALLY hit me until that City Attorney said 3-5 more people from City Hall wanted to testify against me, and added, if i keep going back, who knows who else would want to testify, that I piss off."

MAN, it wasn't over disruption...

It was over the content of the message. (Non-union, non-documented workers building condos Downtown.)

And the way the City Attorney argued the case, describing the problem with ZD...and it didn't start with, "A guy who caused an illegal disruption."

It was, "What do you say about a guy, who shows up to all the Council meetings, talking on all the items.."

So after they didn't get the stay away, I kinda actually felt sorry for the City. AND I AM NOT MAKING FUN OF THEM...THIS IS THE POINT ALL THE HATERS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET ME TO...

Finally having enough self-esteem that I don't WANT to be such a wet fish, flappin' around the deck that no one can manage to handle or grab a hold of.

I learned the lesson from Bill Murray in "Scrooged" AND The Cast of "Wizard of OZ", all at once.

First of all, I HOPE I continue to feel uncomfortable behaving the way I used to. AND NOW, I CAN STOP, because I have PROVED that you CAN! (So that's how you diffuse ZD.)

I don't regret a second of (sometimes, not ALL the time) extra-annoying, but legal behavoir. I loved it. It was obviously a blast. And the guerilla warfare tactics allowed me to get the attention and just as importantly, esteem that allowed me to get to this point.

PLUS, something "I" knew all along, and City Hall ZD opponents, battling me on this blog have brought to people's attention, even more so, last night...

What ZD just did inside City Council chambers, represents a FLAW in the Democratic system, in general:

The system as big as one that covers all Americans all the time, for everything, is going to have to allow for a little give on one end, so there isn't too much take on the other. (A little too wide a net, to make sure you catch ALL the shadiness.)

So yeah, one day, every Los Angelino could decide to show up on the same day, and decide to take their full allotment of daily U.S. constitutional rights.

But Deming will point out, through the use of statistics, although sometimes you'll have a few too many people, on a busy day, for the most part, the City knows, basically what to expect, and it doesn't fluctuate THAT much, in the long run.

AND AS OF TODAY (the day after ZD & City found out he didn't have to stay away for a year), I feel like the flaw has been noted for the record, and luckily, it really doesn't need to be changed, because there seems to be something that keeps it at a certain level -- EVEN THOUGH THAT IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE LESS THAN THE PEOPLE WANT (if you give us 3 minutes, we'll feel we need 4), but MORE than any human being Councilmember would want to take time for.

AND TO THEM, I SAY...Sorry...that's the price we have to pay (a few extra minutes of ZD/"all the others, especially in Van Nuys, that you wish weren't there" a day).

So now that I have proved the point, not only to the City, but to MYSELF (cause that's what everyone was waiting for), I don't have to fight for that one anymore.

AND SO, in the middle of Tuesday's "general public comment", ZD did something he hasn't done since his Howard Stern debut in May 2000...

He aksed Eric Garcetti if he could yield some time...

Then pulled off my Snoop Dogg style knit ski cap and loc'd-out sunglasses, held them in my right hand, and said, "My name's Dave, and I've been trapped inside, I've been held hostage by Zuma Dogg (holding up hat and glasses)...this mean guy and I'd like to break the (trap) and honor the spirit in which you'd like, EVEN THOUGH I DON'T HAVE TO!"

Then, City Council votes to ALLOW incense and Zuma Dogg shirts BACK ON VENICE BEACH!!! (They are also gonna figure out the tax issue of beach vendors, and if they are able to under constitution law, (because again, the system does allow for flaws), that's fantastic, too!

And the final board I had to break...the constant challenge to hop on the bus downtown (and all the energy that takes out of me, way too early for a night guy like me), wait all that time, for the shot to hammer out that "ULTIMATE STRING OF "PERFECT" PUBLIC COMMENTS. (Like trying to bowl a 300, or shoot a round of bulls-eyes in target practice.)

AND TODAY...WITH ZD FINALLY LETTING DAVE DO THE TALKING...I FINALLY DID IT FOR WHAT I FEEL IS THE FIRST TIME EVER!

Not that any song, or comment, or any creative medium can ever be "perfect", and that's the constant allure.

So let's just say, after a lot speeches that left me feeling really good...I still feel like "Oh, shoot...I forgot (blank)." Or, "I ran out of time and had to rush at the end"...

So today, it was finally the slowed down, not yelling (but still loud, but appropriately compelling loud, not "ear shattering loud" as Dion described it back to me.

AND OH MY GOODNESS...I JUST WATCHED THE PLAYBACK ON THE CITY WEBSITE...AND DAVE FORGOT TO DO THE "WIGGER" ACTING, THAT IDIOT!

MAN, YOU SHOULD SEE THE GUY...NO WONDER HE STAYS COVERED UP! EVEN CANDIDO MAREZ SAID, "Put it back on, put it back on." When I thought I would be nice and take it off during a lunch, one time."

But today was the first day that idiot Zuma Dogg let Dave speak, the entire time, for all comments...and it was the first day, I feel I achieved the "perfect cheer!"

And to top it off, when they were holding official city elections for Council Prez and Pro-Tem, during the unanymous vote for "Greuel" as Pro-Tem...when the get to Zuma Dogg's favorite Councilmember, who does so many great things for the city, both as a Councilmember and in his personal life, Greig Smith says, "Can we have a write in vote; Zuma Dogg?"

Plus, last week's ZD "Friendly Amendment" on "Child Safety" study, that ZD's SECOND favorite CM Richard Alarcon, actually made the amendment, acknowledging ZD in the process. (I know he was gonna make it anyway...I HOPE...point is...it's stuff like that...AND ZINE/whoever else, that allowed me to be able to get to this point of at least trying to behave more in "the spirit" in which Council and the haters wish I would. (EVEN THOUGH I DON'T HAVE TO...and I think ZD is gonna have to add that disclaimer EVERY F-ING TIME TILL THE END OF TIME, JUST SO HE DOESN'T HAVE TO!]

Plus, I noticed all the right (otherwise wrong) "Special Event Fee Waivers" said, "City to be reimbursed for all fees" (including Wendy Greuel's Prince Concert!) And I even got to ASK A QUESTION directly to Wendy, to inquire if that was actually, "the Prince from 'Purple Rain'."

And instead of Eric saying, "Please address Council as a whole, and you are not allowed to ask questions", Wendy simple nodded her head and said, "Yes."

[SPIRIT OF THE MEETING, Y'ALL, YEAH, YEAH!!]

So what more can ZD want? He proved to the City that there is a "glitch" in the first amendment that allows him to legally annoy the hell out of you, and make it feel like he is bringing the process to a complete hault. AND, actually, finally believes his own BS about having the City's ear -- just enough that he doesn't have to keep reminding the whole world each and every time he opens his mouth!

But, I would like to at say, in my defense (and it WAS a defense)...at least with me, you get ONE person, recapping info that is important to people Citywide, because it was provided by many other people Citywide.)

It's the homeless guy speaking on tenant's rights/emenent domain, the guy with no kids speaking on LAUSD, the no stakeholder pissed off about Glassell Park/Citywide NC...all the biggest, most-time-spent issues are things people told me from the community, and the things that piss me off, I end up dumping on Council. So it's not like I am just trying to frivously take up time like in the first couple months.

As much time as I am spending with people on this stuff, and as pissed off about it as I now am...the last thing I want to do is waste one second. And since the river of shadiness runs so deep, each day...there is never any left-over time to pick an agenda item, just for a "funny" angle. (Like Wink Martindale Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.)

So when you are suffering through the third ZD agenda item in a row, that you not only had to call "special" just for "HIM AGAIN"...but now he is gonna expose the shady angle...remind yourself this...

At least he is TRYING to honor the spirit of public hearings and community input. And at least the people sitting at their desks at work, or who simply cannot appear on TV for personal/professional reasons...it makes THEM a little less frustrated at you, knowing at least ZD is down there speaking up on it.

And now, hopefully some of the people who were STILL resistant and angry at ZD (the ones who knew I could do it, even better, with a tad less tactics) will finally take a sigh of relief, and maybe when I am re-capping what their constituents told me the past day, they can try and see it from our point of view, now that ZD is enjoying the view from YOUR point of view.

BOTTOM LINE: After I took off my gear during the first comment, I wondered if I should do the next one with the ZD/Batcowl-like gear...or without? And I was gonna go WITHOUT...BUT, as much as KISS wanted to take the make-up off, for their own personal reasons...people like to see them with it on. So I'll roll with that...I think the point is to give the people what they want, enough of the ZD to keep it fun and light enough, but they want Dave playing him. Like in a movie when you have to get actors to play the bad guys for orderly process. And now, it'll be the other way around. I'll be wanting to do it WITHOUT the hat and glasses...and everyone will want me to still do it with. (I guess we still got conflict, y'all...yeah, yeah!)